M'SIAN PM'S WIFE ROSMAH URGES WOMEN LEADERS TO INSPIRE TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGES

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 (Bernama) -- Rosmah Mansor, wife of the
prime minister, said women in leadership positions must inspire transformational
changes in creating new value for social and economic benefit.

"Women now have an even greater role in shaping the future of our world. We
should use our influence, creativity and innovativeness ingeniously and
effectively to inspire changes," she said in a keynote address at the "Women In
Leadership Forum Asia" held here Tuesday.

Rosmah's recorded speech was telecast at the function as she is in Turkey
accompanying Prime Minister Najib Razak who began a four-day official visit to
the country on Monday.

Rosmah said that as leaders, women could effect meaningful and beneficial
transformation when they were knowledgeable and skilful, able to quickly respond
to societal wants, build networks and be committed to creating a better world.

"Thus, education is the single most important enabler for influence and,
with knowledge and skills, women are better equipped to design policies,
introduce initiatives, and pioneer innovations that enhance their ability to
influence others.

"In many societies, access to education for girls and women is still
limited. We must expand this access as well as improve the quality of education,
which must start from early childhood. In marginalised societies, this is a huge
challenge but this is where our innovativeness and resourcefulness will be best
used," she said.

Rosmah said there was a need to increase the opportunity for women to
receive a holistic tertiary education and upgrade their skills through
continuous training and life-long education.

"In general, educated women bring with them cross-generational benefits in
the family and community, resulting in better educated children, improved
nutrition and health," she said.

Rosmah, who was the patron of the forum, also said that women’s approach to
work and life was different since they were more sensitive to the needs of
family and society, and, thus, women took a more holistic approach to life that
balanced work, family and society needs.

"This strength must be enhanced, and women must emphasise and promote this
comprehensive approach that puts the well-being of people as the anchor for
development in any society.

"For women to undertake this role effectively, they should always be aware
of the existing and emerging forces of change such as technology,
communications, values, consumer behaviour and economic resources," she said.

Rosmah said understanding these alterations and subtle shifts would help
women to exercise their influence to meet the needs of an evolving society.

She also stressed on the importance of networking, saying that by leveraging
on these networks, women could extend their reach to the farthest corners of the
world and optimise their limited resources.

"In this digital age, media-based networks have proven to be the most
effective ways to influence change," she said.

Rosmah said that worldwide, women now constituted 22 per cent of corporate
executives at top management and formed one third of all people involved in
entrepreneurial activity.


"In the 21st century, women are now becoming important drivers of economic
growth, with 40 to 50 per cent of businesses being owned by women. Women are
also creating a significant impact in science and technology," she added.

She said there were many famous influential women who had been able to
successfully influence, innovate, and inspire societies to substantial change,
such as Baroness Margaret Thatcher whose policy and ideas in redefining the role
of the government - lauded as Thatcherism by many - had turned around the wealth
of the British economy, and her moves as a national leader were emulated by
several nations.

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of a former United States president, had
actively participated in the women’s suffrage movement and fervently worked for
the betterment of the African-American community and became the first woman to
be appointed as head of the UN Human Rights Commission where she helped to draft
the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights, which was still applicable today, she
said.

In inspiring society through inventions, Rear Admiral Grace Hopper had
written a 500-page "manual for the Mark 1 computer" which became the world’s
first sequentially programmed computer for the navy, developed the first
computer programme in English called a "compiler", and led the efforts to
develop Common Business Oriented Language or "COBOL", a computer programming
syntax still in use today, she said.

Rosmah said there were extraordinary opportunities for women to strengthen
the social, economic and ecological resilience of human society by committing
themselves to a better, equitable and just future for all.

"This future will be the outcome of the choices we make today. One choice is
to use influence to envisage, create and manage a world that is peaceful,
prosperous, full of kindness and empathy," she said.